Roger Federer yesterday warned Novak Djokovic and his other Shanghai Masters rivals that he is in prime condition even as another long season approaches its climax.
The 37-year-old Swiss has been carefully managing his schedule, cutting out the clay-court segment of the season since last year to wring the most out of his aging body.
It appears to be working and the 20-time Grand Slam winner opens his defense of the Shanghai Masters this week in ominously good shape.
Photo: Reuters
The world No. 2 played in a victorious Laver Cup campaign in Chicago two weeks ago, following his surprise round-of-16 defeat to Australian John Millman at the US Open.
“The good thing is after feeling good in practice I played a good Laver Cup, have had also some rest after the US Open,” Federer said.
The Swiss great’s prime threats in Shanghai are likely to come from world No. 3 Djokovic — who is in fine form — and world No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, beaten by Federer in last year’s final of the Masters 1000 showpiece, is absent with injury.
Del Potro, who was hindered by the flu in losing Sunday’s China Open final to unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili, said in Beijing last week that he was running on empty.
Not so Federer, it seems, who is seven years older.
“I feel like I’m where I want to be,” Federer said. “I know that this is where I could be playing a lot of tennis, depending on how I play.”
Federer, who is chasing his fourth title this season, faces Daniil Medvedev in his opener after the feisty Russian yesterday rallied to defeat Chinese wild-card Zhang Ze 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4.
Basilashvili showed that his China Open triumph was no fluke as he brushed aside Denis Shapovalov.
The Georgian, up to a career-high 23 in the world following his victory in Beijing, beat the teenage Canadian 6-2, 6-2 in just 57 minutes.
The 26-year-old Basilashvili next has another upset in his sights when he plays fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB